Cheer Up, Dante
by Lotus Butterfly
Summary: Stressful weeks get to even the best of us. Another short and mild oneshot for the masses. DxN rated T.


**A/N: **I have just had a really shitty week. Things are so busy right now, I barely get time to sleep. I suppose I brought it upon myself in a way. Add into the mix that I'm struggling with my lingering depression problems and everything is just a party.

As for this current piece before you...I needed to vent and cheer myself up a bit. It's again incredibly short and rated...well, mild.

**Pairing:** Dante/Nero (established relationship)

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Devil May Cry and it's characters. They are the rightful property of Capcom.

**Warnings: **None. (wth?) OoCness(?)...I'm going with OoC because other than insinuation and alcohol consumption, there's nothing

**Dedications: **Bo Burnham. Dude cheers me up, peeps. I suppose I could dedicate this as thanks MvC3 as well for FINALLY LETTING ME BEAT GALACTUS ON HARD MODE THIS AFTERNOON. WTF CAPCOM, EVEN YOUR FIGHTING GAMES HAVE TWISTED DIFFICULTY SETTINGS!

* * *

**-Cheer Up, Dante-**

He was tired.

Trudging up to the cold stone steps from the damp, partially flooded streets, Dante shook his dripping hair out and threw open the doors to step into the silent, dark office. Devil May Cry had been his home for so long, he couldn't remember a time without it, couldn't imagine living anywhere else. Having a place to call home at all was a blessing at this point. He was just so tired. The past week had just been one thing after another. Jobs lined up until he and Nero had been forced to split them as evenly as possible between them and work apart.

And then his car broke down and Dante had been forced to walk to the rest of all his jobs since Nero had taken his bike. The cost for his broken down vehicle was going to take nearly all of the shit pay he'd been collecting for this tedious and exhausting extermination missions. To add icing to the shit cake he'd been force-fed this week, it was raining all day, every day, so he was constantly wet and cold and just in general uncomfortable.

Growling, the devil hunter raked a hand through his hair, slicking it out of his face as he put his weapons up in their respective places on the selves behind his desk, shrugging out of his coat and letting it fall to the floor. He was too tired to even care about his coat. Yes, he was _that_ sick of it.

Though he was hungry, Dante didn't have the energy left to call for a pizza, instead collapsing into his chair, propping up his feet and ignoring the water making a puddle under his muddy boots on his desk, leaning his head back and heaving a weary sigh, eyes already closed. A nap would be heaven right about now, except Dante couldn't quite make himself relax completely. Nero wasn't back yet, so he was going to be forced to stay awake worrying about the younger hunter.

He mumbled curses to himself, eyes barely open and he struggled to keep them that way, but despite his greatest efforts, the hazy blues weighed themselves down until they were closed stubbornly. Dante lost the will to fight the encroaching darkness, head lolling a bit on his neck before he was out just like that, snores rumbling from the tired man.

-o-o-o-

A warm, greasy, tantalizingly familiar scent broke through the black of his unconsciousness, teasing his nose with every deep inhale. Dante grunted and shifted, body stiff from sleeping so hard in such an awkward position. It didn't usually bother him to sleep behind his desk, but maybe the kid had a point…perhaps he was getting old. He rubbed at the back of his aching neck tiredly, eyes barely open. That smell was plaguing, making his stomach clench and growl like a demon. Dante continued to knead at the back of his neck, his clothes having dried in the time he'd been asleep and now they felt a bit stiff and itchy.

He finally managed to focus and found that the heavens must have finally taken pity on him…because sitting right there before him on his desk was the second most beautiful thing he'd ever seen in his life; a fresh, steaming pizza, just waiting for him to reach out and devour it. Groaning in gratitude, Dante dropped his feet to the floor and sat forward, snatching a piece, nearly inhaling the greatest food of all time before he grabbed another.

Before he could bite into the third piece, however, Dante froze as he saw the number one most beautiful thing he'd ever seen in his life.

_Nero._

"Hey, old man." Nero greeted as he came into the room, hair a bit messy and damp but he smelled warm and fresh, probably just out of the shower and wearing only jeans. It made Dante's mouth water more than the pizza to see all of that pale, lithe body. "I would've thought you were dead, except for all that snoring." He teased with that cocky smirk, walking over and suddenly straddled the older hunter's lap, sliding his left arm around Dante's neck to massage the knotted, tired muscles there, leaning in to kiss the stunned half-devil.

Once he managed to collect his scattered, still sleepy thoughts, Dante pulled away and looked over Nero's face silently.

"…you ordered the pizza?"

"Figured you'd be hungry." Nero shrugged before his eyes widened a bit and he leaned back. "Oh, and here," the younger lifted his demonic right arm, the pale blue glow reflecting dimly off of the can he was holding, lighting up the label so it was clear to see. "You might want this too."

Dante was again stunned beyond words and sacrificed putting the untouched pizza back in the box to wrap one arm around Nero's waist and take the offered beer with his now free hand. "Aw babe…thanks." He couldn't have imagined a better way to cheer up from the terrible week. Nero always knew just what to do. The kid knew him too well.

Nero didn't even ask for any of the pizza, letting Dante eat nearly all of it himself and remaining seated in the elder hunter's lap through all of it, content to doze lazily against his chest. The teen only got up when Dante was finished and, though he'd already had one, joined Dante in his shower.

And then to the bedroom where his sexy young mate let him be lazy and climbed back into his lap to give them both an entirely satisfying ride to let out the last bits of remaining tension from their hectic work week.

Dante hummed happily as he cuddled up against Nero later that night, arms lazily draped over the other's waist, both snuggled under the blankets, finally out of the icy rain that continued to pound against the roof over their heads. The jobs were finally finished and they could afford to take a few days off. He couldn't imagine a better evening after such a bad day. "Love you, Nero." He mumbled.

"Love you too, old man." Nero replied in a drowsy voice before looking up at him with a smirk. "And you owe me big for tonight, by the way."

He groaned at the implications of what Nero had in mind to repay his new debt.


End file.
